


Before I Decay

by Tsukasa_Akabane



Category: One Piece
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-25
Updated: 2017-08-25
Packaged: 2018-12-19 15:33:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11900721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tsukasa_Akabane/pseuds/Tsukasa_Akabane
Summary: 'Deathbringer [y/n]', the bringer of rot and decay. The name was pretty well-known a long time ago. But along with her crew, she disappeared without a trace. Where is she now?





	1. The Fallen Deathbringer

 

_A long time ago, there was a pirate._

_Her name bloomed alongside Gold D. Roger and Whitebeard._

_However, compared to them, she was nothing but a child._

_She led a group of young pirates, all were orphans and abandoned. Shunned by the society, thrown by their own flesh and blood, they found a place on her ship._

_At first glance, she looked fragile. She was just a small girl after all._

_But she was no ordinary girl. Anywhere she go, she brings rot and decay. She bring pestilence and suffering to her enemies. And inescapable death to those she hates._

_For a few years, she became the marine's primal target for capture._

_And then, one day she and her crew disappeared without a trace._

_The marine found their ship 'Le Mort' floating in the middle of the sea but found no traces of the captain or her crew._

_What was left was a ash covered ship and a tons of treasure stored on the ship's treasury._

_The ashes led the marine to a conclusion that she destroyed her own crew herself. However, no one could explain where the captain have gone to._

_The ship was taken and destroyed by the marine._

_Since then, no one has ever mkventioned thekk name 'Deathbringer' [y/n] ever again._

* * *

"Eh?! Did she really exist?!"Perona questioned Zoro as the man busied himself on cleaning up his swords. The girl was reading a book with a title 'Lost Pirates'. A book she found on the dusty library of the Hawkeye, Dracule Mihawk.

"How should I know? It's not like I know each and every pirates who existed before." Zoro replied, not bothering to take his eyes off the sharp blade.

Perona puffed her cheek. "Aren't you a pirate hunter before or something?"

Zoro looked up to send the woman a glare. "That was then. Besides, what's the use of knowing the names of the pirates who already disappeared a long time ago?"

"Hmph." Perona slumped back on the chair. 

Her eyes turned to the drawn figure of a teenage looking girl with [e/c] colored eyes and [h/c] locks. The grass where she was standing were dry and the flowers around her were wilted. Her face were void of any emotion. On her back was a giant scythe, too large for her small frame.

"I wanna meet her." Perona suddenly said.

Zoro raised an eyebrow at this. "You want to meet a dangerous girl who could kill you in just one touch?"

"What's wrong with wanting to meet her. Isn't it cool that she brings death wherever she go?!"

Zoro shook his head. There was really something wrong with Perona's head. Perona and her morbid head.

He decided not to bother arguing with her and turned his attention back to his sword.

"If you want to know about that woman? Why don't you ask Mihawk? That girl on that book was a pirate at that time when Gold D. Roger was a pirate. That only mean that he was on the same age as him if she did really exist."

Perona pouted at the suggestion. "If I ask him, he'll just send me away like a rude old man that he is."

"Too bad then."

  
Standing behind a large pillar was a man with sharp hawk eyes. His hand curled into a ball as he heard the two freeloaders talk about the girl of rot and destruction.

He was relieved that Perona decided not to ask him. If she does, he don't know if he would be able to hide his emotion.

That woman, Deathbringer [y/n] did exist. He knew she existed. Of course he knew. After all, she was the woman he swore to protect until the end only to be left behind by her without any explanation.

He gritted his teeth as his grip tightened more.

"[y/n]..."

 

* * *

In the middle of a dark forest, an old mansion stood.

The forest looked so dark and the trees were dead. The ground were also dry and the air was cold.

Inside the mansion lives two woman.

* * *

A [h/c] haired woman coughed as she fell from her bed.

She keep coughing unable to stop herself. As she does, red liquid with small chunks of fleshy substance fell to the floor from her mouth.

The door of the room opened and came a young woman with long black curly hair, red colored pupils and deadly pale skin.

"Milady!" the woman panicked and run towards the coughing woman. Her long black dress trailing behind her. "Milady! Milady!"

The other woman finally stopped coughing although blood still flowed on her mouth. Her breathing was heavy and she looked barely alive.

"I'm fine, Banshee. I'm still alive." she said in between heavy breaths.

The woman, Banshee helped the older woman on her bed. After making sure she was comfortable enough, she grabbed a cloth and cleaned the sick woman.

"Please don't force yourself, milady. I'll go out and find some herbs and make a medicine to ease the cough a bit." Banshee said.

The other woman closed her eyes with a smile. "Don't bother. I'll be dying anytime soon."

"Don't say that!" Banshee angrily shouted. "I'm working hard to find the bastard who did this to you! I'm sure he could lift the curse if I force him to! Just don't give up on me, please!"she pleaded.

The woman's eyes opened and locked on Banshee. "The decay on my back has scattered. My left arm too. I'll lose it anytime soon." she said, raising up her bandaged left arm. The bandage was bloody and some rotten flesh were visible.

Banshee's eyes teared up but forced herself to be strong. She looked at the other woman determinedly. "I still won't give up." she said and turned to walk to the door. She stopped just in front of the door and looked back to the sick woman. "Even if you lose your arm or leg, as long as there was still a chance for you to live, I will keep looking. So please don't give up, Lady [y/n]." with that, Banshee left the room.

The room has been left in silence. [y/n], now alone, lifted her decaying arm up. On her ring finger was a golden ring.

A small smile appeared on her lips as she remembered the man who has married her in the middle of a lonely castle without a priest or any witness. 

You can't really call it a wedding. After all, it was just the two of them. But even so, she took his name and made it hers at that time.

"It won't be long before I stop wearing this ring, huh?"

Once her arms decay and fell, she won't be able to wear the ring anymore.

"Maybe I'll just take it off now." [y/n] whispered.

She reached to take the ring off but stopped. She remembered a certain man's face making her unable to take the ring that was connecting them.

Her lonely eyes locked down to the ring.

That man... He accepted her for what she was. He gave her love unconditionally. She knows that no matter what, he would stay with her. And that was why she needed to leave. She needed to leave before her curse gets to him.

She don't want him to end up like her old crew.

A long time ago, her family was murdered, leaving her as the only survivor. The man who killed her parents was a terrible man who took pleasure at seeing the suffering of others.

He left her alive but put a curse on her for fun. He told her he has the remedy for the curse and told her if she managed to find and defeat him, he'll take the curse off.

At first, she wasn't sure what kind of curse he had put on her. But as she walk to a nearby town, the people suddenly screamed and fell one by one, their body rotting slowly while some turned to ashes. The plants around died along with the animals. That was when she realized what curse she has. 

She run away. She stole a ship and sailed away. She was just a child but was forced to sail to find the man who put a curse on her.

She feared her curse. But later on, she managed to control it. Although any grass she stepped on still dies, she managed to learn to control the curse and only use it on enemies.

Her ship were attacked by pirates many times but all of them fell thanks to her curse. That was when she thought that maybe, she could use that curse to something good.

She began gathering crew. Orphans, people hated by people around them, those were abandoned by their love once. She took them all to her ship and form a friendship with them.

She was no longer alone. She has her crew. She finally found a new family.

They wreaked havoc on the seas. They never attacked towns or normal ships, only other pirate ships and marine ships though.

Later, she was branded by the marine as Deathbringer [y/n] and put a bounty on her head.

Everyone on the crew was proud of it. They were happy on the sea. But it didn't last long.

It was just a  normal night like any other. After she destroyed a marine ship and managed to stole some valuable items, they partied till late and fell asleep on the deck.

She was awoken by a scream.

She thought it was another attack and sat up. To her horror, one of their youngest member was looking down on his hand. His hand was decaying.

[y/n] felt a stinging pain on her arm. Lately, it was hurting but ignored it thinking it was just sprained or something. She cut the sleeves of her shirt and saw her left arm bleed.

More screams followed as one by one, her crew decayed while some turned to ash.

In just a few minutes, everyone disappeared, leaving her alone.

In grief, she jumped into the ocean hoping she would never surface again.

But fate was a bitch. She woke up on a warm bed. She was alive.

She was saved. She was saved by a man named Dracule Mihawk, the man who later gave her a private wedding ceremony at that lonely castle.

"Mihawk..." [y/n] whispered, looking down to her ring. "I'm sorry..."

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	2. Twisted Fate

Banshee was just a child when Lady [y/n] found her.

A long time ago, the forest where the mansion they reside was built, was the place where people dump their unwanted children.

The forest was full of danger. Dangerous flesh eating monsters and man eating plants reside in there. Some area has poisoned air and for some reason, it was always dark in there.

Banshee was left by her mother to die on that forest.

Everyone knows about the lurking monsters feeding on lost children hiding deep in the darkness.

But instead of monsters, the one who found her was a woman.

That woman was Lady [y/n].

Lady [y/n] told her that the monster's on the area were already dead and so were the man eating plants. Actually there were no more living things on that forest except for her.

Lady [y/n] told her to go back home but Banshee followed her.

Lady [y/n] refused to let her inside her home, insisting that she must go home or else, she'll die like everything on that forest. However, Banshee refused to leave, and remained sitting in front of the door of the mansion.

After three days of sitting there with no food or water, her body finally gave up and passed out.

When she woke up, she was already inside the mansion. On the table beside the bed was a plate of food and water. She ate all of it in hunger and drank the water in thirst.

Lady [y/n] later entered asking her to go home already. Banshee still refused telling her she was already thrown away. Lady [y/n] hesitantly told her about who she was and the curse she has.

It was a scary story but Banshee still refused to leave and told her she was ready fall to the curse too.

With no other choice, Lady [y/n] let her stay with her.

Banshee thought she would die sooner from the curse but for some reason, the curse didn't seems to affect her and now, she was with Lady [y/n] for a very long time.

She learned a lot of thing about Lady [y/n]. About where the curse began, about that time she became a pirate, about the time she met the man she loved and that time she left him in fear that her curse would also claim him.

"I better hurry and find the herbs." she muttered as she left the forest.

She reached the ghost town. It was the place where she used to live. However, a plague came killing many people and forcing those who survive to abandon the whole island.

The plague caused people to decay and die. It wasn't really a plague though. It was Lady [y/n]'s curse spreading to the whole place.

Now, it was a deserted place with just two people living in there.

She continued walking into the cliff side near the sea. There, on the stone were strange looking weed. It looked like they sprout on the stones. These weeds were one of the thing she needed for Lady [y/n]'s medicine.

She crouched down to  collect some when a loud explosion sounded behind her.

Surprised, she looked up. A pirate ship was attacking the island. They probably thought that there were still some people living in there and trying to scare them to make it easier to loot later.

Another explosion sounded.

Banshee glared and open her mouth to scream. An ear deafening sound was heard. The water below rippled as some dead fishes floated.

That's right, she ate a devil fruit a long time ago. That devil fruit gave her an ability to use her scream as a weapon. That was probably why her mother decided that she needed to die. She feared her.

She wasn't sure what was happening on the pirate ship but the attack stopped.

At least she thought it did. When she turned to leave, an explosion sounded near her making her lose her footing and sending her down to the sea.

* * *

Zoro yawned as he waited for a fish to take on his bait. Perona sent him to catch some fish, saying something about cooking 'Perona's special' for dinner. 

She actually ordered Mihawk first but the Hawkeye refused and shut himself inside his room.

"I'm so sleepy." he muttered before letting another big yawn.

Through his blurry sleepy eyes, he then saw something.

Something was floating a few distance away from him. A log.

He stared at it and realized that there was someone hanging on the log. A person. A woman.

Zoro hastily abandoned the fishing rod and jumped into the water.

He swam towards the log and drag the woman into Mihawk's coffin shaped boat.

"Hey! Are you alive?!" he called out, slapping the woman's cheek a bit.

A small groan left the woman making him sigh in relief.

"Milady..." she muttered.

Zoro ignored it and grabbed the boat's paddle.

"Hang in there. I'll bring you to the land."

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	3. 'Dracule'

 

Mihawk opened a drawer and took a small jewelry box out of it. He then sat on the chair and opened it, revealing a gold ring.

He took it out but didn't wore it. He just stared at it sadly.

After his 'wife' left, he took the ring off and hidden it away. 

Once in a while, he would take it out and stare at it as he asked himself again and again why she left him.

What did he have done wrong to make her leave?

A furious knock on the door interrupted him.

"Mihawk! Mihawk!"

He sighed in annoyance and returned the ring back to the chest.

"What is it? I'm busy." he said and moved to return the chest to the drawer.

"Zoro brought a dead woman!"

"Dead woman?"

* * *

"I told you! She's still alive!" Zoro argued with Perona as Mihawk silently stood behind them.

On the bed, was a pale looking young woman, probably on the same age as Perona.

"She look dead to me!" Perona argued back. "Anyway, I asked you to catch a fish! Not a dead body!"

Zoro gave her a irritated glare then kicked her out of the guest room.

"You're just as rude as the old man!" Perona shouted from outside the door and kicked it before stomping away.

Zoro let a tired sigh. "Finally... Peace and quiet." he muttered before looking down to the sleeping woman on the bed.

"She isn't wounded." Mihawk commented.

Zoro nodded. "Yes. She probably fell from a ship or something."

Mihawk turned to leave. "Once she's fine, send her away. This place is already noisy enough with the pink ghost lady. We don't need another loud woman."

Zoro watched as Mihawk left. Zoro looked back down to the woman before following Mihawk out of the room.

* * *

"Ahh!!! My hands!!! My hands!!!" a pirate screamed as his hands turned into mushy gooey liquid.

Around him were rotten corpses of his crew mates.

"I asked you. Where is the woman you said you first saw when you're attacking the island?" a woman with [h/c] hair asked. Her eyes were angry.

"P-please spare me!" he begged.

"Answer me!"

"She fell to the sea!" he shouted.

"What?!"

"I'm sorry! It's not me who fired the canon! So please don't kill me!"

"DIE!"

"Gwah..." Blood gushed out if his mouth, eyes, nose and ears before falling down to the ground, dead.

"Banshee!"

* * *

Banshee opened her eyes. Did she just hear Lady [y/n] called her?

She sat up but fell back on the bed. She felt weak. Just what happened to her?

She looked around and found herself on a unfamiliar room. 

"Where am I?" she asked herself. "What happened to me?"

She retraced her memory back. After a while, her eyes widened and forced herself up.

That's when the door of the room opened.

"Oh! So he's right! You're still alive!" a woman's voice sounded.

Banshee looked at the door and found a woman with long pink hair and big eyes.

"W-who are you?" Banshee asked nervously. It has been a long time ever since she talked to anyone who was not Lady [y/n].

"I'm Perona. A moss head found you floating on the sea and brought you here."

"Moss head?" What does she mean by moss head?

"Hey, woman. Didn't I told you to stay away from this room?" a lazy sounding voice sounded as a man entered.

It was a guy with green hair. Banshee now understood that this was the moss head Perona was talking about.

"She's up." Perona said.

"Oh." the man looked to Banshee and nodded. "Good."

"That moss head is Roronoa Zoro. He saved you. I'm sure you're familiar with his name." Perona said.

Banshee shook her head. "I'm sorry. But I'm not."

Perona's big eyes widened more. "Eh?! You're not?! Just what kind of hole were you hiding in?!"

"Sorry." she apologized, thinking she was being rude for not knowing the man. He must be someone very important.

It really can't be helped. She lived on a deserted place and no news comes in there.

"It's nothing to be sorry about." Zoro said. "Anyway, how did you ended up to the sea?"

With the question, Banshee remembered the pirates. Her eyes widened and tried to stand up.

"Hey! Stop that!" Perona said as she forced her back to the bed.

"I need to go back! They would see her!" she frantically shouted.

"You're still weak. Rest first." Zoro said.

"But I need to go to her!"

Perona and Zoro keep forcing her when a voice sounded.

"Let her do what she want."

The three stopped struggling and turned to the door.

In there, was a man with dark hair and golden eyes.

Banshee took a breath. There was something on his gaze that was making her scared.

"Dont be absurd. She's still unwell." Zoro stated, glaring at the man.

"She said she wanted to go. Let her choose her own path. She choose death, so let her be."

"You're really a terrible old man!" Perona shouted.

The guy turned to leave. Zoro were not done with him though.

"Mihawk!"

Banshee's eyes widened hearing the name. "Mihawk?"

The guy stopped and looked back at her. His eyes piercing to her.

Gulping, she decided to ask. "What's your whole name?"

The man stared at her for a short while before opening his mouth. "Dracule Mihawk."

Banshee shook hearing the name. "No way..."

Both Zoro and Perona looked at her with a confused look.

Banshee however ignored them as she continued.

"Are you familiar with the name, Deathbringer [y/n]?"

**TO BE CONTINUED**


End file.
